Update
Wed 12:00 AM ET- The following is a report received on the sit-in at Nancy Pelosi's office.
Around
3PM this afternoon I was one of 12 single payer activists who were
escorted from the reception area of Nancy Pelosi's office in the San
Francisco Federal Building and arrested by members of the Federal
Protection Service of U.S. Homeland Security.
Just
before noon we went to Pelosi's office to ask Dan Bernal, the district
director, make a phone call either to Pelosi herself or Terri
McCullough, Pelosi's chief of staff in Washington. We wanted to
directly communicate two demands: that the Kucinich amendment be
included in the health care bill that will soon be brought to a vote in
the House and that the Weiner amendment be voted on by the House, as
previously promised by Pelosi.
For
two hours Bernal refused to meet with any of us. Then he called in the
police and had them arrange for a meeting with himself and three of us
in the reception area. The doors between the reception area and the
hallway were closed. Two policemen stayed in the room. The other
activists and other police stood outside the closed doors in the
hallway. Instead of working out how a call could be made so that we
could discuss our demands, Bernal promptly and brusquely said he'd just
listen to what we wanted and then all of us had to leave the building.
As soon as we said that wasn't why we had agreed to the police's
conditions to meet with him, Bernal broke off the meeting, left the
reception area and went back inside the locked doors to his office.
Then
the police took us from Pelosi's office on the second floor to the
basement, where they processed our arrests. Because Bernal was too
cowardly to file an official complaint, an elaborate charade was worked
out by Bernal, building management and the Federal Protection Service.
The misdemeanor charged against all of us was based on a technicality:
our singing and chanting for single payer was not in accord with the
rules and regulations of the federal building. This technicality was
then extended to mean that we had "disobeyed" the police officers. We
were issued citations and told that we would be summoned to court
later. Then we were dismissed from the building.
From
noon until we emerged from the basement with our citations in hand,
there was a spirited rally for single payer taking place across the
street. The demonstrators included a large contingent of members of the
California School Employees Association, some of whom had come from
Sacramento and Stockton. The rally also included members of California
Nurses Association and Single Payer Now.
The
"Pelosi Twelve" are members of organizations such as ActforSinglePayer,
AFSCME District Council 57, California Alliance of Retired Americans,
California School Employees Association, Gray Panthers, and Health Care
for All-California.
All
of us today, those who were arrested and those who rallied in support
of us, will keep fighting to get the Kucinich amendment in the House
health care bill. And we'll keep fighting to win single payer in
California and the nation. Republicans, Blue Dog Democrats or sell-out
Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi, will not prevent us from succeeding.
Dan Hodges
Chair
Health Care for All-California
Original Entry
Ten to twenty people engaged in a sit-in at
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco Office in the afternoon on
Tuesday. The sit-in was a response to Pelosi's decision to not bring health
care reform legislation to a vote with the Kucinich Amendment, an amendment
that would have gave states the option to enact single-payer health care.
Buff Whitman, who was arrested for participating in the
direct action, explained that the individuals engaging in the action "wanted to
have a conversation with Nancy Pelosi and they knew she was in Washington but
wanted staff to call her and allow her to talk to them about breaking a promise
she had made on the Kucinich Amendment.
Those participating in the action also wanted to draw
attention to the fact that the Weiner Amendment had been dropped. The Weiner
Amendment would have given representatives in the House a chance to vote on
single-payer health care.
The action began as something not confrontational. Those
concerned about health care reform walked in, asked to speak with Pelosi, were
told nobody was available, and decided to wait and sit down in the waiting
area.
According to Buff, a young man came out a while later and
told them again that she was not available. They once again said they would
wait.
The group of individuals chanted and sang songs while they
all hoped somebody would change Pelosi's mind so the group could "have a
dialogue with her.
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Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com
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